This invention was made in the course of, or under, a contract with the United States Energy Research and Development Administration. The invention relates generally to methods for characterizing skin burns with respect to depth and more particularly to an improved method for objectively measuring burn depth and therefore burn severity.
Skin burns are traditionally categorized as first degree, second degree, and third degree. First-degree burns involve damage only to the epidermis, or outer most layer of the skin. Second-degree burns extend into and terminate in the layer of skin next below--i.e., the dermis. Third-degree burns extend through both the epidermis and dermis and into the underlying layer of subcutaneous fat.
Early and accurate determination of the depth of a non-superficial burn is essential for prompt evaluation of its severity and an early decision as to the best mode of treatment. For example, the increasingly preferred treatment for all third-degree burns and deep dermal burns is excision to the depth of tissue destruction, followed by skin grafting. Unfortunately, conventional techniques do not lend themselves to prompt and accurate determination of burn depth. Thus, it is common in the case of severe burns to defer the desired excision and skin-grafting until after the dead tissue separates spontaneously. This often involves a delay of from 3 to 4 weeks. Thus, a relatively rapid and accurate method for determining burn depth should reduce mortality and lead to a more effective, rapid and complete rehabilitation for the patient. It would also reduce the time expended by the burn surgeon.
Conventional techniques for measuring the depth of a skin burn include analysis with infrared; measurement of the skin temperature; staining with dyes to delineate the burn-to-tissue interface; and pricking the burn surface to determine sensation. In general, these techniques are deficient from the standpoints of reliability and accuracy.